How Burbank fixed its sidewalks -- could Los Angeles do it, too?

Reza Helali demonstrates how he has to pull Mahdokht Nakhost over a section of buckled sidewalk in front of their home in Northridge on Feb. 22, 2012. Earlier that year, the city turned down their second request to fix the sidewalk, saying they’d place her on a 50-year waiting list. (File photo by Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)

The sidewalk along Grand Avenue near Fourth Street in San Pedro has buckled over a foot in some places due to tree roots, as seen on Feb. 7, 2014. (File photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze)

The city of Burbank this week celebrated a milestone Los Angeles is unable to achieve: fixing its most-damaged sidewalks.

Burbank officials touted their work this week repairing about 40 miles of broken city sidewalks. The work took about a decade and cost $7.5 million, officials said.

“We really believe that sidewalks are an important part of the community,” Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said. “It’s a personal space that’s in front of your home but it’s also a public space, where you go for a walk.”

Burbank has about 370 miles of sidewalk. To repair its worst pathways, officials split up the city into 20 sections.

Each year, two sections were repaired, Teaford said. The city focused on sidewalks damaged by trees, repairing “anything you catch your toe on,” Teaford said.

The work was done in March, but was celebrated as part of National Public Works Week at a ceremony on earlier this week.

The repair blitz has helped with lawsuits stemming from trips and falls, Teaford believes. In fiscal year 1998-1999, Burbank paid about $500,000 in claims to people who sued the city after sidewalk-related falls. In 2009-2010, the latest information Teaford had available, showed that no claims had been paid.

Burbank’s push to fix its sidewalks comes as Los Angeles considers a similar overall blitz. City leaders are studying a proposal to put a measure on the November ballot that would tax residents to pay for sidewalk repairs. The tax would also pay for street repairs.

If approved by the City Council and then voters, the half-percent tax would raise roughly $640 million to repair sidewalks throughout Los Angeles. City officials are still working on the plan, but estimate that about 2,300 miles of sidewalk could be fixed with the funds. The process would take about 15 years.

The city of L.A. has about 4,600 miles of damaged sidewalks, officials say. The city takes a piecemeal approach to sidewalk fixes, and officials concede they’ve fallen behind.

But unlike Burbank, which paid for its sidewalk repairs with general fund money, Los Angeles officials contend they can’t pay for a massive project without taxing residents. That position angers some watchdogs, who contend the city isn’t managing its finances.

The tax initiative is being led by Los Angeles City Council members Joe Buscaino and Mitch Englander. An aide to Buscaino declined comment on Burbank’s repairs on Thursday, saying he wanted to study that city’s program first.

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When it comes to sidewalks, Burbank’s Teaford said there’s no comparing her city, which has about 100,000 residents, with L.A., which has nearly 4 million residents. But she suggested that Los Angeles take a “systematic approach and stick with it” when it comes to repairs.